Best Cell Phone Coverage in Ontario

Given that Ontario is home to 40% of Canada’s population, it’s
remarkable how much of it is comprised of unpopulated
wilderness.

Take for example the Canadian Shield, which makes up over half the
province’s land area: this thinly populated region is dominated by forests,
lakes and rivers, and only the occasional town. Meanwhile, the Hudson Bay
Lowlands in the extreme north are virtually unpopulated and consist of vast
wetlands.

It’s easy to forget all of this when you’re spending time in Toronto, a
bustling, cosmopolitan hub of business, science and education. Canada’s
largest city is also a true cultural melting pot, attracting visitors and
transplants from all over the world.

Whichever part of Ontario you’re in, you likely place great importance on
getting an adequate cell phone signal from your carrier. While the coverage
scores below may appear low, that’s because they take into account the vast
wilderness areas of the province in addition to the cities. The coverage
picture in Toronto will likely be far different than in small town
northwestern Ontario. Read on to learn more.

Coverage in Ontario
At-a-Glance

For a province that includes big city Toronto, coverage in Ontario is surprisingly weak, earning an overall score of 11 out of 100. However, keep in mind that this score reflects the entire area of the province which, as you know if you live there, includes a massive amount of wilderness. Here's a guide to coverage in Toronto, and Ottawa.

What we love

Bell, Telus and Rogers all provide similarly fair coverage to Ontario

Expect the best coverage in and around Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, London and Windsor

What could be improved

Freedom Mobile's network largely absent in Ontario

Coverage is toughest to come by in the wilderness areas to the north of the province

Geographic Area
Covered in Ontario, Canada per mi2

Ontario is covered by both 3G and 4G LTE technology. 3G is the network that
some older phones run on, and the one newer 4G LTE-capable devices fall back
to when unable to reach a primary network. Here's how much territory the top
carriers cover:

Coverage in Ontario, Canada (383,732 m2) by 3G/4G LTE

Bell

Rogers

Freedom

Telus

3G

86,467

78,999

6,584

86,467

4G LTE

85,064

57,936

2,848

85,064

Ontario Network Coverage
Maps

Numbers on a page are one thing, but the coverage maps tell the full
story. Fortunately, you don't have to go to all of the carriers' websites to
get this information--you can see what the coverage is like from the four
majors below:

The maps confirm that Telus, Rogers, and Bell all have fair to decent
coverage, with Freedom Mobile bringing up the rear.

Big Carriers
vs. Small Carriers in Ontario

Fun fact: Most of the main four carriers in Canada offer their minutes,
texts and data to smaller carriers. These smaller carriers are called MVNOs for short. Essentially, MVNOs buy network service from the
top tier carriers giving customers a chance to save money on the same amazing
network.

If you're interested in Telus's coverage, for example, but are looking
for a better deal, PC Mobile, Koodo, Public Mobile, and PhoneBox are some of
the smaller providers offering these services.

Getting the
Best Plan & Coverage

WhistleOut's new coverage check
feature supercharges an already robust comparison engine by allowing you
to instantly see what coverage is like at your location. All you have to do is
punch in your address and we do the rest. This feature is
the first of its kind, and empowers consumers to make better
decisions when it comes to wireless. If you need help figuring out how to
use it, the GIF below should help:

Checking coverage at an address in Encinitas across Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and ATT networks

In addition to showing you a map of your area with the coverage from all
four major carriers, we filter through the available cell phone plans and
present only those from carriers who provide good reception to you.

Find a better phone plan

Thousands of mobile phone plans unpacked. All the facts. No surprises.

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About this Service: WhistleOut maintains a broad list of providers to help you compare, always covering at least the top ten providers in every category so you can make a transparent choice. When you see a 'promoted product' or a product with a 'go to site' button it means that WhistleOut is earning a transaction click fee for the referral. We audit the prices across the whole market regularly and we don't alter the ranking of products in our organic search based on any commercial relationship.
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